Definition of "belong" []

• To be proper, appropriate, or suitable: A napkin belongs at every place setting. (verb-intransitive)
• To be in an appropriate situation or environment: That plant belongs outdoors. (verb-intransitive)
• To be a member of a group, such as a club. (verb-intransitive)
• To fit into a group naturally: No matter what I did, I just didn't belong. (verb-intransitive)
• To have in one's possession. Often used with to: "The earth belongs to the living” ( Thomas Jefferson). (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The former _stand for_ nouns, and never belong to them; the latter _belong to_ nouns, and never stand for them."
• "Council, that all vessels under a neutral or friendly flag, being neutral or friendly property, shall be permitted to import into any port or place in Her Majesty's dominions all goods and merchandize whatsoever, to whomsoever the same may belong, [217] and to export from any port or place in her Majesty's dominions to any port not blockaded, any cargo or goods, not being contraband of war, or not requiring a special permission, to _whomsoever the same may belong_."
• ""And now," said he, "as you belong to the church of Christ, so your children, in a certain sense, and that a very important and precious sense, _belong_ to the church."